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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 6085845" data-attributes="member: 6668292">Well, let me expand from where I'm coming from, first. In the majority of my campaigns, a combat might take place, on average, once every 10 or so hours of play. Many other things get done during this time; relationships develop, plans are made, time passes, political maneuverings occur, objects are crafted, people are convinced to do things, people travel from place to place, and so on (not counting obstacles like weather, other events unfolding, and the like).So, what I basically heard was "we care about combat, spellcasting, and movement. Everything else is secondary." And that, to me, kinda sucks, because combat falls so far down on my list of "most used things" when I run a game. Now, don't get me wrong, I like it, and I want it to be supported. But, I want all those things I listed (and more -my players have ruled nations, ran businesses, and so on) to be important, too. And, I don't want a design paradigm of "everything after combat, spellcasting, and movement doesn't matter as much." That doesn't work for my goals.So, what would I like to see? A strong, fleshed-out skill system. I want tremendous support for the "exploration" and "interaction" pillars. Even if I don't like the mechanics, I want them working on those with just as much priority as combat. Why? Because they're important to me, as both as player and, more importantly (for me, at least, since I run pretty much all games I take place in), as a GM.Right, that's why I put that line in that said "I hope they do a great job with these "optional" rules for, you know, everything that's not combat." Because, hey, they could do an awesome job on them, and I'm hoping they do. I think I should've gotten the vibe of "combat, magic, and movement can have a safe baseline that most everyone can basically agree on, so that's why we're making those core, and everything else optional. That way, each group can build on these widely accepted areas, or opt-in to all of these other areas, making for a game that best fits their individual table style."But, that's not what I felt like I got. But as it stands, I really got the vibe of "combat, magic, and movement matter most, and everything else is secondary," instead. Does that make sense, now that I've clarified a bit? As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Right, I agree with you. It doesn't mean there won't be systems for those things (or even awesome system for those things).However, what makes them think that combat will be handled the same way universally? Some people like abstract "zones" for combat, some use minis, some don't, some like HP, some like wounds/vitality. For magic, there's Vancian, AEDU, spell points, and so on. Movement has old school turns (or not), random monster tables (or not), carrying capacity weighing you down (or not), tracking rations (or not), and so on.I think that even combat, magic, and movement isn't enough of an agreed upon area to make a "baseline" that will please enough people. Many people like combat more complex than the "Basic" version will be. So, they'll look up the rules of a grid, minis, and the like, and use those. Honestly, what's fundamentally different about that than looking up whether you want "zones" or you want "Basic" or you want "Advanced"?The difference, of course, is the common baseline of the system. It's what people can see as the default. The default helps tremendously with new gamers, too, no doubt. You give new players the 3.5 PHB and they'll already have their hands full before you hand them Unearthed Arcana. So, don't get me wrong, I like a baseline. But, I was really hoping that the baseline would also emphasize stuff other than "Combat, Magic, and Movement." Because, in my experience, there's so much more to the game than that.I do get why people don't want to overwhelm the basic rules, or overwhelm new players. And hey, maybe there is a baseline default for all of those things, but they're all an opt-out rather than an opt-in. That'd make me feel so much better about things, actually. I just don't really see how "Combat, Magic, and Movement" are much different, honestly. But yeah, I get that without those things, it wouldn't be D&D. I just feel that way about the stuff that sounds neglected right now. As I said, though, we'll see what they come up with. I'm hoping I'm just really getting the wrong impression. As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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